Forever Changing
by Moonshiner
Summary: This is a story about a girl called Shiera who is just starting at Hogwarts., where she encounters an unusual boy called Tom Riddle...
1. Default Chapter

Alarm clock ringing, a hand fiddling around for the 'off' button to silence the frustrating mechanical object designed to wake humans from their peaceful slumber. The girl yawned widely and stretched her arms and twisted about in her duvet, longing for more sleep. So it was half-past nine in the morning already, who cared? It was Sunday morning! The girl's face could not be seen as it was covered in a tangled mess of jet-black hair. 

"Shiera! Come and help me lay the table for breakfast please!"

A kind voice called from the bottom of the stairs. The girl moaned and turned over in her bed, pulling her soft duvet up to her neck.

"Shiera!"

The girl snuggled deeper into her covers, trying to block the sound from her ears. 

To her, the next sound resembled a herd of rampaging elephants trampling through a copse of defenceless trees. Alas, it was only her mother clambering up the staircase in a rather pathetic attempt (though Shiera was not so sure it really was an attempt) at keeping quiet. 

Footsteps could be heard walking along the hall before the girl's door was thrust open with such immense force that Shiera swore she felt the very air of her room shaking as she lay huddled up in her warm, comfy bed. 

"Now, now dear, how long are you going to stay cooped up in your bed today?"

A cheerful voice exclaimed as Shiera's heavenly covers were cruelly ripped away from her. The cold air immediately enveloped the nightdress-clad girl, causing her to pull her knees up to her chest in an effort to stay warm.

Shiera's mother then pulled open the curtains covering the window, letting the bright sunlight flood into her daughter's bedroom. Though her eyes were closed, Shiera squirmed as the blinding light shone into her face. She groaned and held her hand over her eyes.

"Come on, get up lazy bones! Get changed and washed or you'll miss your breakfast!"

The cheery voice laughed as it disappeared along the hallway and down the stairs. 

Shiera yawned and rubbed her eyes before eventually gathering the willpower, strength and stamina to haul herself out of bed and drag herself to her wardrobe and then the bathroom.

**********

The kitchen door creaked open as Shiera walked into the room. She was wearing a loose knee-length white summer dress since it looked like it was going to be quite a warm, early July day today. Her midnight black hair hung down to her waist, only slightly less messy than it had been when she had just woken up by her mother.

"Good morning, lazy! Oh dear, your hair…." Her mother sighed as she ran her hand down her daughter's hair, trying to flatten it. "Have you even brushed it yet?"

Shiera scowled and took a few steps away. Her mother then walked across the kitchen and found a hairbrush in one of the baskets next to the cupboard, and brushed Shiera's hair for her.

"Mother…"

She whined, rolling her eyes.  Her mother took no heed of her complaints, and carried on until Shiera's hair was beautifully straight and untangled.

"There we go…nice and straight and neat…you have the most gorgeous hair, you know. Don't you ever go and cut it short. I don't care if it's the latest fashion, because you'll regret it afterwards." Her mother advised as she stroked the thick, long and soft hair.

Shiera looked up at her mother, who didn't look a thing like her. She had light brown, darkish blonde hair and sparkling dark blue eyes, whereas Shiera was quite the opposite: she had pitch-black hair and large dark brown eyes rimmed with long, dark lashes. She was actually quite a pretty girl, yet quiet and rather shy. 

When she was younger, her mother had told her she looked just like her father, with dark hair and dark eyes. Shiera often asked about her father, but her mother always pretended not to listen, or changed the topic of conversation, or had only just remembered that she had some shopping to do, or she had to start on making dinner, or come up with any other excuse in the book. Shiera had then given up asking her mother for information, and had left it at that. She wondered why her father left before she was born; didn't he want her? No, he wouldn't do that. 

She knew nothing about her father except that apparently she resembled him. Over the years, Shiera made up a story that her father was an avid explorer who discovered mysteries of the Arctic, and that he had found something top secret on one of his journeys. The government found out about this and they were very angry with this, so they were on the hunt for him. Shiera envisioned her father to be a heroic man on the run in the wilderness. He would come back one day; full of stories about his adventures and voyages. 

Shiera was eleven years old now, and was beginning to lose faith in this breath-taking tale. Maybe her father did leave her pregnant mother for good. Maybe he didn't want her. Maybe he would never come back. If that was so, Shiera didn't care about him. If he really was looking for them, he would have contacted them by now. They had never moved house, so it wouldn't be difficult to do so. 

"Can you pass me the milk please, dear? Thank you."

Shiera finished her cornflakes and then sipped some of the cool, freshly made orange juice from her glass. She then spread some butter on her slice of toast and began to eat that as well. The two ate in silence, it was not an awkward silence, and Shiera was just too tired to think of anything to say.

A clatter could be heard from the hallway leading to the front door from the kitchen, and then something light could be heard falling to the floor.

"That will be the post, can you go get it? There's a dear."

Shiera pushed her chair back and walked over to the front door and picked up the letters. She glanced at them; there were four envelopes. She shuffled through them, reading the backs of the envelopes to see whom they were from. Two were bills, one was from her mother's old school friend, Anna, and the last envelope was the one that interested Shiera the most. It was addressed to her. Who would write to her? She didn't have any close friends, besides, the envelope looked too formal for it to be from a friend. Yet it was addressed to her, plain as plain can be, no doubt about it.

Miss. S. Taylor,

The First Room Upstairs on the Left,

21 Oak Tree Close,

Eastleigh,

Southampton

Shiera walked slowly into the kitchen, placing the other three letters in front of her mother, and then sitting back down in her own seat, still gazing at the letter. How did it get here without a stamp? And how did this person know which room she slept in?

"What have you got there, love?"

"A…a…a…letter…for me…" Shiera stuttered as she read the address over and over, much to the puzzlement of her mother.

"Well? Open it then, see who it's from!" Her mother laughed as she saw Shiera all tense and surprised for no obvious reason.

Shiera took a deep breath and turned the envelope made of pale yellow parchment around, on the back was a dark purple, wax seal. On it was the design of four animals: a lion, some sort of hawk, a badger and a snake all surrounding an elaborately decorated, large letter 'H'.  She slowly tore open the top fold of the envelope, and then pulled out the thick parchment within it. She gently unfolded it and read it. 

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Armando Dippet

Dear Miss Taylor,

            We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

            Term begins on 1st September 1943. We await your owl by no later than 31st July 1943.

Yours sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Deputy Headmaster      

Among that, there was a separate piece of parchment also in the envelope, which contained lists of equipment needed. 

Shiera had frozen, only her eyes moved as they scanned through the letter several more times. Was this some kind of joke, prank or hoax? Magic wasn't real; it only existed in fairytales for little children.

"What is it, Shiera?"

Shiera slowly handed the letter over to her mother across the kitchen table. When she sat back down, she stared unblinkingly into space, hundreds of thoughts spinning around in her head. Was this real? Was it a dream? Was this just a prank? But it seemed too real…

After a tense silence, Shiera's mother broke the stillness.

"This is not a prank." Her mother declared in a deadly serious voice, a voice that Shiera had not heard often. Her mother was always so happy, cheerful, carefree…

"What? But, how can this be so?" Shiera whispered nervously as she watched her mother scan through the letter again. 

Her mother took a deep breath and then sighed, laying the parchment flat on the table. She leant back and closed her eyes for a moment as she let her head fall back onto the chair. She took another deep breath and then opened her eyes and looked straight at Shiera.

"Come here, poppet."

Shiera stood up and walked over to her mother. Something life-changing was going to happen in the next few moments, and she was nervous and afraid. 

Her mother held Shiera's hands in hers and looked directly at her. 

"This is not a prank, Shiera. This is real. Magic is real. Witches and wizards are real. They have ways of staying hidden so that we do not intrude their lives." She said seriously. 

"But-"  

"Shh…I know this because…because…your father was one. Your father was a wizard, Shiera." She carried on, ignoring her daughter's interruption. "This is hard for me, so please do not ask anymore of your father. You do not need to know anymore of him than what I have told you. It is for your own good."

Shiera's face blanched. She didn't know what to think or how she should feel. Only two words came out of her mouth:

"Yes, mother."

Her mother then gave her a small smile and pulled her into a warm hug. Shiera was still confused and surprised at all of this.

"May I be excused, please?" She asked quietly. She needed to go up to her room and think through all of this clearly.  

"Of course, dear," came the understanding reply.

Shiera picked up the two pieces of parchment and the envelope, and then ran up the stairs and into her bedroom; falling onto the bed she had laid upon less than an hour ago, back when she had no cares or worries. 

Things had changed. For the good, or for the bad, she didn't know. All she knew was that things were never going to be the same again.


	2. A New World

Shiera woke up and looked over her shoulder at the alarm clock beside her bed; it said that it half-past six in the morning. Shiera grinned; today was the day that she was going to go shop for her books and equipment for Hogwarts. 

The shock that she had upon receiving her acceptance letter had now disappeared, and had instead transformed into excitement. At the end of the first letter, it had said 'we await your owl by no later than 31st July 1943.'  She did not know what to do at first, where would she get an owl? Her question was soon answered though, because flying around their front garden, was the most beautiful tawny owl. She guessed that she was supposed to give a reply to the owl, and that it would fly back to Hogwarts, and let the headmaster know that Shiera had received her letter. 

She had done that ages ago, and it was now late August. 31st August 1943 to be exact. Shiera was going to take the train to London with her mother, where they were going to go and shop for Shiera's school things. 

Shiera got out of bed, had a quick bath, got changed into a knee-length pale lilac dress and then brushed her teeth. She also brushed her hair for a very long time, and eventually got it straight and smooth. Her hair would be very stubborn at first, but after about a quarter of an hour of brushing, it would be perfect. Shiera thought this was rather odd. 

Within an hour, her mother and her had eaten their breakfast and were ready to go. Her mother took her purse and handbag, as well as Shiera's trunk for Hogwarts, and a small bag for her own things and off they went. 

They had to walk through the town for about fifteen minutes until they arrived at the train station.  

When they arrived, Shiera's mother scanned the destination boards, muttering every now and then as she read.

"hmmmm…Eastleigh only goes as far as Surrey…Surrey…Epson, no. Surrey…Staines? No." She then turned to Shiera and gave a small sigh. "We'll have to take the train to Surrey, and then switch trains there to get to Greenwich, and then from there we'll be able to get into Central London. It might be best to get the tram from Greenwich…" She checked the board again and then nodded to herself. "Yes, that's what we'll do. I just hope World War II doesn't decide to ruin this day." She murmured to herself, looking nervously up at the sky. Their home wasn't too badly affected, but that didn't mean to say that everything was absolutely fine. There was the occasional air raid alarm, and some weeks had been particularly awful because the food rations were sometimes terribly small. 

They made their way to catch the eight o'clock train, shoving through crowds and crowds of people until they eventually boarded it, surprisingly managing to find a seat. 

It took about two hours or so to get to Surrey. There, Shiera and her mother got off and boarded the ten o'clock train to Greenwich. 

In just under an hour, they had arrived in Greenwich. They got off, looking a bit unwell due to the constant moving and shaking of the trains on the rails.

They sat down on a bench for a few minutes for a breath of fresh air before taking a ride on the tram into Central London. 

Once they arrived, Shiera realised that she didn't know exactly where she would find all of her school things. She pulled the list out of her pocket and read through it again.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Uniform

First-year students will require:

        1.  Three sets of plain work robes (black)

   2.  One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

   3.   One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

   4.  One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags.

Set Books

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

            A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

            Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

            A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

            One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phylidda Spore

            Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

            Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

            The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

Other Equipment

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring ONE small, tame animal that they can control. Most students prefer to bring an owl, a cat or a toad, though others are acceptable. 

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST-YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

Shiera's mother didn't know where to go either, so they decided to just walk through the streets of London until they found any shops that looked like they might be selling magical school equipment. Even after two hours, they still didn't find anything that might give them a clue as to where they could find the things on Shiera's school list. Maybe magic was real, but maybe this school wasn't. 

They were about to give up hope when Shiera distinctly heard the words 'Hogwarts' and 'pewter cauldron'. Her heart leapt for joy and she whispered to her mother excitedly. They stood up and followed the group of three people from which Shiera had heard the words. 

The people headed for a dingy looking pub with a sign hanging by it, it read 'The Leaky Cauldron'. Shiera and her mother exchanged slightly weary looks before taking the plunge and following the people into the grubby building. But before they could get to the entrance, Shiera's mother stopped her.

"Are you blind, child?! That's a solid brick wall!" Her mother whispered fiercely, her eyes wide in disbelief.

"What? Can't you see the entrance? This is the door to the pub, where those people went in. It probably leads to the magic shops."

"But, look! There's a wall! I don't see a pub here!"

Shiera had the weird feeling that only she and those people in front of her could see the pub. Maybe it was because she was a witch and her mother wasn't? Yes, that must be it. Unless Shiera was hallucinating.

"Mother, I think it's some sort of magic, I can see the pub because I'm well….you know….but you, well…you're not, so all you can see is a brick wall. Trust me, just walk straight through with me, the entrance is right in front of us."

Her mother still looked worried, but trusted her daughter, and let her lead her through the 'brick wall'. She shut her eyes tightly, waiting for impact with the wall, but none came. She opened her eyes after a few moments to see that she was in fact in a rather dimly lit pub. She turned around, and behind her was another brick wall. Before she could ponder this, Shiera had grabbed her arm and was straining to catch up with the people talking about Hogwarts. They made their way through to the back of the pub into a courtyard-like area outside. One of them pulled out a slender, wooden stick and tapped some of the bricks making up the walls around the courtyard. To Shiera's amazement, the bricks rearranged themselves, creating an arched doorway. The people made their way through, and Shiera followed after them, but her mother stopped her. Shiera looked up at her mother, a desperate and confused expression upon her face. 

"I don't think I'm allowed to come with you."

Shiera was about to protest when she realised what her mother meant. Shiera was a witch but her mother was not. Shiera couldn't argue with this. She didn't make the rules. 

"Here's some money…that's £40…it should be enough." Her mother said as she put two £20 notes into Shiera's hand. "I'll meet you by that big oak tree just around the corner from here, all right?"

Shiera nodded.

"I'll meet you there at four o'clock. I'll just go shopping now, until you have all of your things, and we'll meet at four o'clock. Remember, four o'clock."

"I'll remember."

"Goodbye then, poppet." Her mother said as kissed her daughter on the forehead and gave her a hug. "Now be careful. Go quickly, before that entrance closes!" She called, pushing Shiera in the direction of the open wall. "Remember, four o'clock!"

Shiera ran through the entrance before it could close in on her, and then stood in awe as she looked around. There were crowds and crowds of people coming in and out of the shops, wearing robes and pointed hats, their chatter filling the street with life. The shops were advertising broomsticks and books, pets and wands, robes and secondhand items. 

After gazing around for a few moments, Shiera saw a sign next to her saying 'Diagon Ally', and then wandered into the street, stopping to glance at every shop window she passed. 

She felt a bit uncomfortable in the street; everyone else was wearing robes or cloaks, but she was in a pastel lilac dress. 

Shiera soon forgot about this, because as she took a longer-than-normal glance at a rather interesting shop selling owls, she tripped and crashed into someone. It took a moment for her to realise what had actually happened; she had been too absorbed with watching the owls. A pale hand with long fingers came into view, and she held onto it as she was helped up to her feet. The hand was icy cold and firm, Shiera felt uncomfortable holding onto it.

"I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to, I was just…" Shiera looked up to see vivid, turquoise blue eyes boring into her own dark brown ones. She felt a chill go up her spine and she froze. She didn't know why, but this boy made her feel very uncomfortable. She pulled her hands away from his rather too quickly than was polite. He was taller than her, and he had blue-black hair and the most unusual sapphire blue, dark-lashed eyes Shiera had ever seen. They looked haunting against the boy's pale face, and she felt very nervous. 

Shiera stood like this for several moments before dragging her eyes away from his, and instead averted her gaze to the cobbled street she was standing on. Her long midnight black hair fell over her now pale face as she fiddled with her hands. 

The boy watched her for a moment and then, to Shiera's relief, walked away. 

Shiera stood, stricken, before gathering her senses and making her way to the shop selling spell books, still weary of the unusual boy.

**********

"Right, that'll be thirteen Galleons, four Sickles and one Knut." The grey-haired shopkeeper said as Shiera placed all eight spell books on the counter.

"Pardon?" Shiera asked, confused. What in the world were gallons, sikles and nuts?

"Thirteen Galleons, four Sickles and one Knut." The shopkeeper repeated clearly. 

Shiera felt as if her stomach had been tied into a knot. She didn't have any wizard money.

"I only have this…" Shiera said, placing her pound notes on the counter.

"Ah…no problem, no problem at all…" The wizard said as he tapped Shiera's money with a thin wooden stick that resembled one she had seen earlier. One of the people in that group of three that Shiera had followed had a wooden stick too. To her surprise, the two £20 notes had turned into several gold, silver and bronze coins. Shiera gasped, and looked at the coins, wide-eyed. What just happened? The notes were there one second, and strange coins the next! 

The shopkeeper then leaned over the counter and spoke to Shiera quietly. 

"Don't worry, this happens all the time. Right, the gold ones are Galleons, the silver ones are Sickles and the bronze ones are Knuts. There are seventeen Sickles to a Galleon, and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle." He explained, putting the gold ones in a pile, the silver ones in a separate pile, and the bronze ones in another pile. "Now, for all eight of these spell books, it will be thirteen gold Galleons," He counted thirteen coins from the gold pile, "four silver Sickles," he counted four coins from the silver pile, "and one bronze Knut. " he took one coin from the bronze pile and then put the thirteen Galleons, four Sickles and one Knut into his till. 

"Thank you, sir." Shiera said, trying to carry all eight textbooks in her arms.

"Wait a moment, I'll just get you a bag," The shopkeeper said as he flicked his wand, causing a strong bag to appear on the counter. He then took Shiera's books and put them into it. She took it off the counter and was surprised at how light it was.

"Oh and here's something for you to keep your money in." He said, handing her a small velvet pouch, into which he put her change.

"Thank you very much, sir."

"No problem, dear. Have a nice day!" He called as Shiera opened the door, causing a twinkling of bells to sound above her head as the door opened and then closed after her.

**********

Shiera leant against a wall, several bags full of school things surrounding her feet. She looked at her watch, and saw that it was three o'clock in the afternoon. She had to go and meet her mother in an hour. Shiera then took out her list to see what else she had to get.

"Hmm…got that. Got that. Got that. Ah, a wand, three sets of plain black work robes, a black pointed hat for daywear and a black winter cloak with silver fastenings." She murmured to herself. 

She stuffed the list back into her pocket and headed for 'Ollivanders'. 

**********

Shiera nervously opened the door to the shop, which resulted in a tinkling of bells above her once again. She looked around for the shopkeeper, but found no one. There were shelves reaching up to the ceiling, and they were stacked with hundreds of long, thin, dark boxes. Everything was dusty and dim in here. It gave off the effect that this building was secret and magical.

"Good afternoon, miss…?" said a soft, misty voice from somewhere to the right of Shiera. She jumped and peered around for the source of the voice. An old man with wispy grey hair came into view from behind one of the shelves. He had pale, silvery blue eyes, and the colour blue immediately reminded her of that strange boy. 

"Taylor. Shiera Taylor." She replied timidly. 

"Ah yes, of course. You have the same unusual features as your father…I remember when your father bought his first wand from here…"

Shiera looked up eagerly at the mention of her father, but was far too shy to ask more of him.

"Twelve inches it was. Made of beech wood. It contained a single strand of a centaur's tail. Yes, yes…very good for charms and hexes, you know," he went on. "Anyway, you're here to buy your wand, and that is what you're going to do. Once we've found you one, of course." 

Mr. Ollivander then told Shiera to hold out her wand arm. 

"I don't know which is my wand arm…" Shiera said quietly. 

"It will be the same as the one you write with, dear." He explained in his faint, misty voice.

Shiera held out her left arm and Mr. Ollivander raised an eyebrow.

"You are left-handed?" He asked curiously.

"Yes, sir." Shiera replied, not quite seeing why being left-handed was such an odd thing. It was rare in the non-magical world, and people were often surprised when they found out someone amongst them was left-handed. Why did it really matter anyway?

"That's the second one today, and before today, I hadn't met one in several years. The first one today was a rather unusual, quiet young man. He's also starting Hogwarts this year." Mr. Ollivander trailed off into his own thoughts for a moment as he studied Shiera avidly through his thin glasses. After a few moments, he got a tape measure out of his pocket and measured Shiera from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow and shoulder to floor. The tape measure was moving all by itself by now, and after a few moments Mr. Ollivander told it to stop. 

"That should be enough for now."

He then disappeared amongst the shelves and pulled out a narrow, dark box and opened it. He handed the wooden stick to Shiera and told her to wave it about. 

"Mahogany wood. Fourteen-and-a-half inches. Dragon heartstring. Good for transfiguration." 

Shiera waved it about, and nothing happened. Mr. Ollivander then grabbed the wand out of her hands and put it back into the box. He disappeared once again behind the shelves and reappeared with another box.

"Try this now, Miss Taylor. Birch wood. Twelve inches. Unicorn hair. Rather bendy and good for spell casting."

She waved this one about too, which resulted in a porcelain vase on a cupboard nearby to be smashed to bits. She hurriedly handed it back to Mr. Ollivander, who went away once again, and turned up with yet another dark box. He narrowed his eyes inquisitively at Shiera, and slowly walked over to her with the box in his small, thin hands.

"This one is fourteen inches. Made from willow and phoenix feather. Rather powerful."

As soon as Shiera's fingers wrapped around the wand, she felt a surge of hot energy course up her left arm, and gold and silver sparks came from the tip of the wand, illuminating the dim room with sparkling embers, casting long, dancing shadows upon the walls. The air around her turned cold and a fresh breeze spun about the room, eventually dying down like the fading of the embers. 

"Ah yes, wonderful. Interesting yet odd, but wonderful nonetheless. "Mr. Ollivander murmured as he took the wand and placed it back into its box. He wrapped it in a sheet of brown paper and handed it to Shiera as she gave him the money.

Shiera left the shop, gazing at the narrow box she held in her hands. Exactly how powerful was this thing?

**********

"Hogwarts, dear?" The young, violet-clad witch asked Shiera as she entered the shop. She nodded shyly and let herself be led into another room with footstools and long mirrors. 

As Shiera entered the room at the back of the shop, she felt the same chill course up her spine as it had done earlier. She stopped in her steps and saw the turquoise-eyed, pallid boy. She swallowed and pretended not to notice him. To her dismay, she was made to stand on the footstool next to the boy. Madam Malkin hung a large, black robe over Shiera and then pinned some loose and baggy areas. Madam Malkin stayed for a few moments and then went back to the front of the shop to serve some more customers.

Shiera was alone in the room with the boy. The tape measure was measuring her by itself, and the pins seemed to be enchanted too. 

After a few moments of silence, the boy looked over to Shiera and spoke.

"Hogwarts?" The boy asked. He had a kind, soft voice, yet Shiera nodded nervously. She had no idea why she was so uneasy around him.

After a few minutes of silence, the boy spoke again.

"My name's Tom Riddle, what's yours?" 

"Sh..Sh…Shi-"

"All done! My, my, you didn't take long to fit at all." Madam Malkin burst into the room and hurried over to Shiera. "Now, now, come here. Let me just-" Madam Malkin pulled the robe off over Shiera's head "-take this off. " She then motioned Shiera back to the front of the shop. The boy raised an eyebrow and Shiera saw no more of him that day. 

"Here's your hat, three robes and your cloak. That'll be…eighteen Galleons, ten Sickles and thirteen Knuts please."

Shiera counted out the money from her velvet pouch and then placed it onto the counter. Madam Malkin checked it and then put the items into a bag.

"Thank you, madam." Shiera said, taking the bag.

"You're welcome, dear. Goodbye!"

Shiera came out of the shop and checked her watch; it was ten minutes to four! She hurried up the street, through the crowds of witches and wizards, and then found the brick wall she had passed through earlier. Luckily enough, someone else was going through at the exact moment, so Shiera followed after her and soon found herself at the back of 'The Leaky Cauldron' pub. She raced through the pub and out of the entrance and into the non-magical streets of London. Shiera then walked hastily along the street and round the corner. She soon spotted her mother standing by the large oak tree, just as she had said. Shiera smiled and ran over to her.

"You sure have been doing a lot of shopping this afternoon!" Her mother exclaimed as she looked down at the various bags of books, clothes, parchment and other things.

**********

"What time is your train tomorrow morning, dear?" Shiera's mother asked as they finished booking into a bed and breakfast and started walking up to their room.

"Erm…eleven o'clock. It says here I have to catch it from Platform nine and three-quarters at King's Cross."

"King's Cross isn't far from here at all, we'll just catch the tram, it'll only take five minutes. What platform was it again, Shiera?"

"Nine and three-quarters…" Shiera repeated, nonplussed.

Her mother raised an eyebrow and then spoke.

"Well, hopefully we'll find out about it once we get there." She said hesitantly as she put Shiera's trunk against the foot of her daughter's bed.

Shiera yawned and leant back on her bed.

"You look awfully tired, dear. Today has been a very busy day, and you'll need to get up to a bright start tomorrow morning!"

Shiera went to the bathroom to get changed into her nightdress and brush her teeth, and then fell back onto the bed. It took a while for her to get to sleep, because so many thoughts were swirling around in her head. Most of them concerned the strange boy she had met twice today. Such an unusual boy…blue-black hair…piercing sapphire eyes…icy cold, pale skin…Tom Riddle.


End file.
